Rate of Viral Resuppression and Predictors Among PLHIV on Second-Line Antiretroviral Therapy at Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest, Ethiopia: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Introduction For people living with HIV (PLHIV) who are on second-line antiretroviral therapy (ART), attaining viral resuppression is vital to support immune recovery, avoid antiretroviral resistance, and lower HIV-associated morbidity, mortality, and onward transmission. However, evidence on the level of resuppression and its determinants in Ethiopia is limited. Objective To assess the viral resuppression rate and identify predictors among PLHIV on second-line ART at Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods An institution-based retrospective cohort study was conducted at the ART clinic of the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital from November 2021 to May 2022. Patient charts of 385 individuals receiving second-line ART were selected with simple random sampling technique. A validated questionnaire adopted from previous studies was used for data collection from patient records at the ART clinic. Collected data were entered into EpiData version 3.1 and analyzed using Stata version 14. Viral resuppression was defined as a viral load of